In the City Council, I am one of
11 people who gets to vote on matters important to all citizens. On June
5th, I'll be one of 13,000 voters who gets to vote on three questions which have
important implications to our future.
I will be voting Yes-Yes-Yes for a new Bresnahan School, a rehabilitated Nock-Molin School, and Newburyport's first and long overdue Senior Community Center. More information on all those issues at http://www.portpride01950.com/
I will be voting Yes-Yes-Yes for a new Bresnahan School, a rehabilitated Nock-Molin School, and Newburyport's first and long overdue Senior Community Center. More information on all those issues at http://www.portpride01950.com/
The two school votes have
received a lot of attention. I also want
to make the case for a YES vote on the Senior Community Center. I hope you will share this email with your Newburyport
friends and family.
For years the City has been looking
for the proper site and procrastinating and delaying on how to pay for it.
Some would like it closer to
Downtown, some would like it on the Waterfront. All of this has been
looked at in the past and every one of these other locations (Cushing Park,
Fulton Pit, NRA lots) has downsides.
Our seniors live all over the City including the North End and West End, not just the Sullivan Building on Temple Street or the James Steam Mill. The Bresnahan is a perfectly viable location with a real plan to pay for it.
Here is a breakdown of registered voters over the age of 65:
Our seniors live all over the City including the North End and West End, not just the Sullivan Building on Temple Street or the James Steam Mill. The Bresnahan is a perfectly viable location with a real plan to pay for it.
Here is a breakdown of registered voters over the age of 65:
|
Wards
|
65+
|
|
Newburyport W01 P01
|
419
|
|
Newburyport W01p
|
141
|
|
Newburyport W02 P01
|
444
|
|
Newburyport W03 P01
|
521
|
|
Newburyport W04 P01
|
528
|
|
Newburyport W05 P01
|
377
|
|
Newburyport W06 P01
|
517
|
|
Total
|
2,947
|
As to whether there is a "crucial need" for it, I would argue that
for hundreds of frail seniors and thousands of healthier seniors in need of
services, benefits, and activities the answer is a resounding YES.
We have good quality senior services provided in a very cost-effective manner
by the City's Council on Aging Director Roseann Robillard, a couple of staff,
and a lot of volunteers. These services are a very small part of the City
operating budget and in the last fiscal year served 851 unduplicated elders.
We are one of a handful of municipalities in Massachusetts that does not have a
central location for these basic services.
851 elders seems indicative to me
of a fairly high demand. Is every senior going to use this? No. If you're an
elder with family still in Newburyport or you have excellent health or you have
the resources to snowbird to Florida every winter, you probably don't need it.
But if your resources are limited, your family and friends are gone, and you're
isolated, yeah, I'd say you're likely to use it.
There's a simple reason why it's a good idea to put these services in one spot: it's easier for the customers/seniors/elders to use. And here's another good reason: it's more efficient for the limited number of staff to operate these programs when they are not begging/borrowing/renting scattered spaces.
Bill Plante in the Daily News does a great job of reminding us that the push for better services for elders has been a long struggle in Newburyport http://www.newburyportnews.
He's right on:
There's a simple reason why it's a good idea to put these services in one spot: it's easier for the customers/seniors/elders to use. And here's another good reason: it's more efficient for the limited number of staff to operate these programs when they are not begging/borrowing/renting scattered spaces.
Bill Plante in the Daily News does a great job of reminding us that the push for better services for elders has been a long struggle in Newburyport http://www.newburyportnews.
He's right on:
I don't want to make a case for
the supernatural here, but a week ago, I came across an old photograph of my
late mother, Bertha M. Plante, and that of the mother of Newburyport's late
Mayor Albert H. Zabriskie, together with the Rev. Bertrand H. Steeves, minister
emeritus of the First Religious Society, who is still very much with us. It was
taken because they were leaders in the pioneer efforts to let the voices of the
elderly be heard. Senior citizens were so with the times that they were invited
to appear on Boston television.
Generations of other local voices
continued taking up their cry, and it was heard and responded to in a great
many communities, most of which built senior centers. Newburyport hasn't, and
this is another attempt, because the mean age of Americans is growing older
every day.
Here's a recap of the services and where they are provided:
Services currently
provided by the Council on Aging and what could be done in a suitable space:
Nutrition Meals on Wheels Cooking for One’ classes
Fitness Exercise to Music Yoga
Health Podiatry
Support Low Vision
Outreach Telephone Reassurance Friendly Visiting Program
Creative Knitting for Newborns Teddy Bear Workshop
Social Bridge
Community TRIAD (safety programs) Ask A Cop
Education Health Insurance Counseling
Transport NEET – out of town transport
COA Service/Program Locations Currently Rented/Begged/Borrowed
- Salvation Army building
- People’s United Methodist church
- Elks Hall
- Newburyport Public Library
- Emma Andrews Library
- City Hall
- Anna Jaques Hospital
- Atria Merrimack Place
- Salisbury Hilton Center
- Sullivan Building
- Heritage House
- James Steam Mill
Demographics:
2010 census info
Total Nbpt Residents = 17,416 Age 60+ = 4,261 (24%)
Babyboomers: born between 1946 – 1964 comprise 35% of the population (6,113 residents)
Demographic projections predict increase in aging until the year 2050.
Again I hope you’ll vote Yes-Yes-Yes. Please share this with your Newburyport friends.
Sincerely, City Councillor Ed Cameron
There have been slight changes in Ward boundaries because of the 2010 Census. You can double check your polling location at www.wheredoivotema.com
The polling hours are
open from 7am-8pm and the polling locations
are as follows:
Ward 1 Plum Island, Plum Island Boat House, 300 Northern Blvd.
Ward 1 Plum Island, Plum Island Boat House, 300 Northern Blvd.
Ward 1, People's Methodist
Church, 64 Purchase St.
Ward 2, Brown School, Lime
Street
Ward 3, Hope Church, 11
Hale St.
Ward 4, Hope Church, 11
Hale St.
Ward 5, Bresnahan School,
333 High St.
Ward 6, Bresnahan School,
333 High St.
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